Dangerous Evolution
by FeistyFeral
Summary: As the Mutant X family expands so do their problems as an old foe joins up with a new enemy to create a deadly clash between good and evil. Brennan/Shalimar & Jesse/Emma. Please R&R!
1. A New Addition

_**Hello everyone,**_

_**I'm back with a Mutant X story. This is the first MX story I've ever written and I'm a bit nervous because I took a very long break from writing and this is my first piece since I started up again. Please R&R!!**_

_**~*~FeistyFeral~*~**_

**Chapter 1—A New Addition**

Pain burst throughout her body and rocked her world. She was strong and she was tough, but she wasn't invincible. She hadn't ever felt pain like this before in her life and she had been in some serious fights in her time; she felt like her body was tearing itself apart. She released a blood curdling scream as a voice made its way into her ears; it was soft and sweet but had undercurrents of stress, "Push, Shal! Push!"

She used her left hand to quickly swipe her sweat drenched hair from her eyes which were glowing bright yellow, "Why don't you push?!" she snarled as she bore down and pushed hard.

~*~Outside the lab~*~

Emma paced restlessly while Jesse sat working on a nearby computer, "Jess, how can you just sit there and work at a time like this?!"

"I'm not going to help Shalimar or Brennan if I wear a path into the ground," he answered with a patient smile.

"Uh!" she groaned, throwing her arms up in the air, "I'm going to lose my mind if I don't do something!"

Jesse turned away from the computer, "There's nothing you can do. You know how ferals need total seclusion while giving birth."

"I know but I can feel her pain! It's terrible! If I could only go in there for a minute to help soothe her—"

"Shalimar would probably jump off that bed and rip you limb from limb. She has to be feeling _very_ vulnerable right now and we both know Shal doesn't like showing her vulnerability around others. Not even us."

"You're right…it's just so…"

"Frustrating to feel so helpless? Useless? Powerless?"

"Gee thanks, Jess," she glared at him without any real venom.

"Come here," he whispered as he held his arms open. Emma sat on his lap and let him wrap his powerful arms around her middle; she tilted her head back to let it rest on his shoulder, "It's going to be over soon."

"I hope so."

~*~Back inside the lab~*~*

"Good job, Shalimar! The baby's head is out! I need you to push with everything you have during your next contraction and hopefully the shoulders will come out and the rest is easy," Adam explained.

"Yeah, _easy!_ Why don't you try pushing a baby out?!" she snarled.

"You're almost done, sweetheart," Brennan encouraged, "One more push! You can do it!"

"Here it comes," she growled before using every last ounce of strength to push her first child out into the world.

"Brennan, come here quickly!" Adam commanded.

The young man rushed to Adam's side just in time to catch the newborn, "It's a girl, Shal! It's a beautiful baby girl!"

The exhausted feral collapsed back onto the bed in the lab and tried to catch her breath as well as see her infant, "We have a daughter," she breathed as a smile lit up her tired face.

Adam took the infant from Brennan's arms and she instantly began to squall; quietly at first but growing to in volume and anger with each passing moment. Adam gently laid the child on a scale and weighed her as well as running a scan of the baby. He took a moment to wipe her down and wrap her in a soft, warm blanket before checking the scan results and announcing, "You have a perfectly healthy, beautiful baby girl," handing the infant to her mother.

As soon as the child was placed in Shalimar's arms she stopped screaming and began to quietly coo. Shalimar bent her head down and inhaled the scent of her daughter; a scent she would never forget as long as she lived. She was only mildly surprised that the child smelled like a mixture of Brennan, herself and…her own unique scent. When she lifted her head to gaze adoringly at her daughter she grinned to see two golden orbs studying her, "Oh, Brennan! Look at her!" she gushed.

He cleared his throat and she glanced up to see tears in his eyes as he climbed onto the bed with her, "She has your eyes," he joked.

The door hissed open and Emma skidded into the room and headed right over to the new family, followed by a chuckling Jesse.

"Oh! You guys, she's absolutely stunning!" Emma whispered.

"She's gorgeous. Congratulations you two," added Jesse, shaking Brennan's hand and kissing Shalimar on the forehead.

"Have you thought of a name yet?" Adam asked.

Brennan and Shalimar shared a loving glance, "Kathleen Aydan Mulwray," announced Brennan.

"What do her names mean?" inquired Emma.

"They're both Gaelic; Kathleen means 'pure' and Aydan means 'little fire'," Shalimar explained.

Jesse laughed, "Those names are perfect for a baby feral."

Emma slapped him on the arm, "Don't listen to him! They're beautiful names!"

The infant lifted a tiny hand and pointed at Jesse; he, in turn, reached out to take her hand in his only to be shocked by a small jolt of blue energy, "OW!" he yelped, jerking his hand back to his side.

"That's my girl," Brennan whooped, "Don't let Uncle Jesse make fun of your name."

Shalimar and Kathleen's feral senses picked up on Emma's sudden stillness, "What is it?"

Emma opened her eyes and grinned, "It's almost like she understands what's going on around her."

"Em, she's just a baby," Shalimar chuckled.

"No, that's not what I mean. She doesn't understand the words being spoken, but her feral senses are so perfectly in tune that she picked up on everyone else's emotions and who they were aimed at," she looked pointedly at the now red-faced molecular.

"Incredible," Adam marveled more to himself than anyone else.

_**There you have it! Please let me know what you think of this first chapter! I have a few more chapters written but I'm not sure if I should post them. Please R&R!!**_

_**~*~FeistyFeral~*~**_


	2. Shocking Developments

_**Here's Chapter 2; I hope you all enjoy it! A special thanks goes out to Hysink for her delightful review! Thanks again and please R&R at the end!!**_

**Chapter 2—Shocking Developments**

Brennan rolled onto his side and unconsciously searched for his wife on her side of the bed. When his hand only encountered cool sheets his eyes slowly opened and he glanced around the nearly pitch black room; he propped himself up on his elbow, looked at the Kathleen's crib and found it empty. The elemental dropped onto his back and groaned before rising, putting on a pair of plaid pajama pants and exiting the bedroom.

He padded gently down the hallway noting that everyone else in Sanctuary was fast asleep; he passed through the kitchen, grabbing a snack before searching the rest of the vast home.

His heart rate picked up when he realized that neither his wife nor daughter was inside; Brennan knew it was beyond brainless to be worrying since no one knew where they lived and Shalimar would fight to the death to defend her offspring but panic still clawed up his chest; clenching his heart and making it a little harder for him to breathe.

The tall man exited the carnivorous home and took a moment to enjoy the feeling of the warm summer air against his skin. He began to walk down a dirt path into the nearby forest, "Shal?" he whispered knowing she would hear him if she was anywhere nearby. He took another step forward when she gently dropped from a giant oak tree ten feet in front of him with their ever-growing daughter nestled into her neck.

"What are you doing all the way up there?!" he squeaked in outrage, "You could have dropped her!"

The ferals eyes glowed in the dark, "Pardon me?"

Brennan opened his mouth before realizing who he was talking to. Shal was more likely to cause the Apocalypse or sit at home knitting baby clothes all day than endanger their child. "Wow! That was stupid…"

"You're telling me," she quietly chuckled.

"When did she wake up?"

"An hour ago. I tried to get her to go back down but lately it's as if her feral side is becoming more predominant. She sleeps throughout some of the day and she's up most of the night."

"Why didn't you tell me? I would have gotten up."

"I know, but I was already up and I wanted to come outside too."

"Why were you up in a tree?" he wondered out loud.

"The air up there is less…muddled with animal scents, the cars and the Helix. It's purer."

Brennan gave her a strange look and she smirked, "It's kind of hard to explain. I'll have to take you up sometime, but I don't know if you'll be able to notice a difference."

"Hey!" he whispered.

"Brennan, I love you more than almost anything but you probably wouldn't notice a difference."

"Yes, I would. I have a great sense of smell," he said indignantly.

"Bren, you didn't notice that rabbit that's running behind me—"

"It's dark."

"Or the squirrel running up the tree beside you, or the owl sitting in that tree over there or—"

"Okay, okay! I surrender to your mighty feral senses!" he laughed softly as he mock bowed to her.

"That's more like it," she giggled.

Kathleen squirmed in her mother's arms as her eyes illuminated. She held her chubby little hands out and grunted. Brennan stepped closer and scooped her into his arms, "She's only four months old and she's already a daddy's girl."

"Bren, she's been a daddy's girl from the day she was born."

The man gently cradled his daughter close to him as she nuzzled her head into his bare chest, "You need to go to sleep, little one." The baby grunted her disapproval before becoming silent once again.

"She's listening to your heartbeat," Shal marveled.

"Uh huh," said in disbelief.

"That's what I do when I'm lying with you. It's a very comforting sound."

"Huh," he took a long look at Kathleen, studying her features; memorizing them at that exact moment. "Let's get her back to bed. We're both going to be exhausted in the morning."

"Yeah, let's go."

Together the trio headed back into Sanctuary; once in their room Brennan made sure the infant was actually sleeping before placing her back in her bassinet. He silently got back into bed and Shalimar curled up beside him with her head on his chest. She let the steady rhythm of his heartbeat help her drift off to sleep.

~*~Early the next morning~*~

Emma was meditating by the pond before everyone else got up and she was bombarded by their various emotions. She found this was one of her favourite times of the day because it was so quiet and peaceful. She fully opened her mind; releasing the guards that protected her from the full spectrum of the others' emotions around her and she felt so free. She hadn't realized how much she had needed to do this after their latest mission; it had been heartbreaking to say the least.

Half an hour later she giggled quietly to herself; Jesse was waking up and he was hungry, '_surprise, surprise'_ she thought to herself before making her way to the kitchen to put on the pot of coffee that her family would definitely need.

A few minutes later Jesse stumbled into the room and wordlessly made his way over to the coffee pot, pouring himself a large mug of the russet liquid before taking a big gulp; closing his eyes and sighing in contentment. He opened his eyes to see his wife smirking at him, "Mornin'" he greeted, his voice still gravelly from sleep.

"Hi," she whispered before capturing his lips in a passionate kiss.

"Mmm, I could get used to this," he chuckled.

Emma rolled her eyes, "I'm going to make myself some eggs, do you want some?"

"Yeah, sure. Are you going to be making some bacon?"

"I don't know if there's any left. Check the fridge and if there is some I'll throw it on."

~*~Brennan & Shalimar's Room~*~

"Shal?"

No response.

"Shal?" he said a little louder.

Still no sign of life from the slumbering feral.

"Shalimar, you've gotta get up. Adam needs us down in the lab in twenty minutes," he gently reminded her before sighing, knowing she wouldn't be getting up anytime soon. Brennan walked over to the crib and scooped up his daughter who had instantly awoken at the sound of his voice, "If only it was as easy to wake up Mama as it is to wake you up," he whispered.

Kathleen looked over to her mother's form under the covers and grunted. Brennan grinned and said, "Let's wake up Mama together." They walked over to the bed and Brennan grasped the duvet before swiftly ripping it off the bed.

Shalimar growled and her eyes began to glow under the hair that was strewn across her face, "I swear to God—"

"Here," he said, ignoring the somewhat empty threat and handing her their daughter, "Don't forget we need to be in the lab in fifteen minutes for Kat's check up."

"You're going to get yours, Brennan Mulwray!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he agreed as he left the room adding, "I'll go make some tea and get us something to eat."

Once Brennan had left the room Shalimar looked down to see her daughter studying her, "What are you looking at Kat? Hmm? Are you looking at Mama?" The infant cooed before giggling as Shalimar blew raspberries on Kathleen's stomach. Shalimar had to stop a few minutes later because she was laughing too hard to continue; as the two ferals calmed down Shalimar began to dress her daughter, "You're going to have a bath tonight," she informed the little one whose smile grew as her eyes began to glow, "Yeah, you like the water, don't you Kat? I do too. There," she said as she lifted the baby onto her feet and held her there. Her jaw nearly hit the floor when Kat bent her knees and stood back up again on fairly steady legs. The child cocked her head to the side and put one foot forward, slowly placing her weight on it; testing to see if it would hold her up. It did. A delighted snort of laughter burst from her small lips and she grinned up at her mother.

Shalimar stood there in shock; her face pale, her breathing shallow as tears blurred her vision. She brought her com ring to her lips as she took off towards the lab with her child clutched to her chest, rasping, "Brennan! Adam! Meet me in the lab now! It's Kat!"

Shalimar made it to the lab in record time, almost crashing into Adam who had started to approach her with a gravely concerned face. Brennan was only a few seconds behind them and was barely able to stay on his feet when he came skidding to a sudden halt, grabbing the doorframe to stop himself from falling, "Wh—what's wrong?!" he gasped.

"Sh—she j-just," Shalimar stuttered.

Adam firmly grabbed her shoulders and used his 'commanding leader voice', "Shalimar! Calm down and tell us what's wrong!"

That seemed to shake her out of her stupor as Emma rushed into the room with Jesse on her tail, "What's wrong? I'm feeling all kinds of panic…"

"It's Kat, she…"

"She what?" Brennan prompted as he hovered around his only child; terror plain on his handsome face.

"Watch," she advised as she brought the infant to a counter and put her on her feet, loosely holding onto Kathleen's sides. The tiny feral giggled before duplicating her previous performance; when she was done the room was completely silent and the child grunted angrily before repeating her latest trick.

"Oh my god," Brennan breathed before breaking out in a smirk, "She's already standing and walking!! She's a genius!!" He fist pumped the air.

"Absolutely remarkable!" Adam exclaimed.

Kathleen felt the mood in the room shift from fear to elation and she broke out in a grin while studying all the faces of her family. Her gaze came to rest on Shalimar's shocked expression and she frowned, holding her chubby hands out for her mother.

"Adam," Shalimar began in a whisper, "Is this normal? She shouldn't be doing this yet!"

"Shalimar, she is the first of her kind: a born mutant with two mutations. Let me run a quick scan and I'll let you know what I find but I think she's perfectly healthy." He took the pintsized child and put her on the med chair as Shalimar held her daughter's hand. He took a moment to read the results before facing the group, "It's just as I thought; she's perfectly healthy. Right now her feral side is dominant and her elemental side is recessive. Her feral side is accelerating her physical development."

"So she's—" Shalimar began.

"Perfect," Adam finished.

Shalimar scooped up her daughter as a burst of laughter flowed from her mouth and seemed to fill the room, "Look at you, my love! You're so strong! Standing and walking all by yourself!"

Kathleen erupted in a fit of giggles at her mother's palpable joy.

_**That's it for this chapter =) The action is coming (I promise!) so please be patient while I lay out the back story for all of you! Please don't forget to R&R and let me know what you think! Thanks!!**_

_**~*~FiestyFeral~*~**_


	3. Celebration & Discovery

_**Here's Chapter 3! I hope you like this one! =) Please R&R when you finish reading!**_

**Chapter 3—Celebration & Discovery**

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Kathleen! Happy birthday to you!!" everyone sang as Jesse brought in the birthday girl's first cake with a big "1" candle on top; not lit of course since the young feral was born with an ingrained fear of fire.

Kat laughed and clapped her chubby hands together in delight, "Ooh! Mama! Daddy! Look!"

Brennan laughed at his daughter's obvious exuberance, "It looks delicious, Kat!"

"Dishes!" she grinned, proud of herself for being able to say a new word. Everyone laughed and she frowned in confusion.

"That's right, baby," Shalimar said, trying to keep a straight face, "It looks delicious!" The one year old smirked as Jesse placed the cake right in front of her, "Jess!" Shalimar yelped, but she was too late.

Kat used one lightning fast hand to grab a fistful of cake and shove it all into her mouth, "Yummy!" she exclaimed as Shalimar swiftly moved the cake out of her daughter's reach. Brennan plucked the candle off the cake and licked the icing off one side, "Daddy! Me try!"

"Okay, here," he chuckled as he handed the candle over, "Just lick it," he gently warned her.

"Who wants cake?" Shalimar asked, knowing very well that everyone would want at least one slice of her famous strawberry angel food cake with whipped cream icing. She cut everyone a large slice and began handing it out.

"No, Kat!" Emma gasped as she grabbed the candle out the child's mouth.

The child began to chew before making a disgusted face, sticking her tongue out and showing everyone the little bits of candle wax stuck to her tongue and teeth, "Yucky!" she said as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Come with Auntie Emma, I'll get that out of your mouth," Emma soothed as she put the child in her lap and Jesse suspected she wasn't using only words to calm the child.

After cake everyone gathered in the rec room; Brennan held Kathleen in his lap. Adam was the first to approach the birthday girl with a small jewelry box, "Happy birthday, Kathleen," he said as he kissed her forehead and gave her the gift.

The child ripped off the wrapping paper and opened the box with amazing dexterity; frowning in confusion at the dainty silver bracelet nestled in silk, "Grandpa?"

Brennan cocked an eyebrow, "That's a beautiful bracelet, Adam…"

The older man laughed at the confusion, "It's like our comm. rings; it will allow us to know where Kat is at all times and Jesse wired it so that she can use it to contact either of you. As she grows I'll get Jesse to modify it to fit her growing wrist until she's old enough to have a ring of her own."

"Adam, that's brilliant! Thank you!" Shalimar praised, thrilled that there wouldn't be anymore severe panic when their ever mobile child decided to play hide-and-seek in Sanctuary or (even worse) outside without telling anyone, "Thanks Jess!" She gave both men kisses.

Shalimar looked at her daughter with raised eyebrows before she clued in, "Tanks, Grandpa," she said, trying to sound enthusiastic.

Adam laughed, "That's not all!"

Kathleen's eyes lit up, "More?!"

"Yes, there's more! Come with me!" Adam laughed as he took her hand and led her out of the room and into the gym. Kathleen's squeals of delight could he heard throughout Sanctuary. She came racing back into the room, "Mama! Come look!" she squealed as she grabbed both her father's hand and pranced back to the gym as only a feral child could.

Shalimar gasped and Brennan laughed when they saw the incredible jungle gym built for their child; it had monkey bars, a pole, a bridge, a trampoline surrounded by plush gym mats and it was completed with a climbing wall; the perfect gift for the growing feral who was experimenting and testing her physical limits all the time. Their daughter practically flew at her grandfather and almost knocked him off balance, "Tanks Grandpa! Love you!!!" She kissed his leg before being picked up and giving him a sloppy, wet kiss on the cheek.

"You're welcome, Kathleen, but you need to have a grown up with you when you play in here," he informed her as her eyes took on a golden tone briefly before returning to their regular chocolate brown, "Do we have a deal?" he asked with mock seriousness.

"'Kay," she huffed as she shook his hand with alarming force before trying to squirm out of his grasp.

"Kat?"

The girl spun around in her grandfather's arms, "Daddy?"

"Are you ready for your next present?"

Her face began to glow with excitement, "More?!"

"I think Aunt Emma and Uncle Jesse have something for you."

Kat was running before she even hit the ground and bolted out of the room, leaving the adults to follow after her.

When everyone was back in the rec room Emma and Jesse had a huge box wrapped in pink paper and tied with pale yellow ribbon, "Open?"

"Open, what?" asked Emma.

"Open, please?!" she yelled as she looked like she was ready to burst from the suspense.

"Open it!" Jesse laughed.

There was a blur of motion and a shower of ribbon and wrapping paper; when all was said and done Kat looked at the box, "What is it?" she asked in bewilderment.

"Uncle Jesse picked it out for you," Emma giggled.

"It's a basketball net with a ball!" Jesse exclaimed.

Kat's face lit up, "Like Daddy and Uncle Jesse?!"

"Yeah, it's like the one Daddy and I play with."

"Ooh!!" she shrieked as she hugged her aunt and uncle.

"Are you ready for your last present?" asked Shalimar.

"Yes, Mama! Pleeeease?!"

Brennan laughed as he threw Kat into the air and she screamed in delight, "You have to close your eyes."

"'Kay!" she said and she complied…for a few seconds before her left eye opened just a slit.

"Hey!" he laughed, "No peeking!"

"'Kay!" She closed her eyes.

Brennan kept one eye on her to make sure she didn't peek and the other to make his way down the hallway. He opened the door next to his and Shalimar's, "Open your eyes!"

Kat opened her eyes and squirmed out of her father's arms, "Whoa, Daddy! Mama! Look!"

Shalimar entered the wildlife themed room and gasped in pretend shock, "Oh wow! What do you have here?"

"My room! Big girl bed!! Mama, look!" she grabbed her mother's hand and walked her though the room; pointing to all the things she knew while saying their names and asking what the unknown items were.

Everyone 'oohed' and 'aahed' as they entered the room. Brennan shook Jesse's hand in thanks as the man had wired their room to Kat's, along with adding a door; adjoining their two rooms for easy access.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"What is it?" the man whispered harshly from his hospital bed.

"I-I'm sorry to interrupt your rest, Sir," the other man stuttered, clearly terrified of the person he spoke to.

"What do you want, Cornwell?" he hissed as he winced; furious that his body was rebelling against him and forcing him to show his weaknesses to others.

"I-I uh," he cleared his throat, "I have some rather shocking information, Sir."

"I don't have all day, Cornwell!" the man snapped, wishing he could tear this idiot limb from limb.

"It-it's about Shalimar Fox and Brennan Mulwray…" Cornwell nearly whispered.

"What?" the ailing man struggled grimly to raise himself up onto an elbow, "What is it?"

"One of my informants contacted me and said that the Mutant X team has finally surfaced again."

"Where?"

"Uh…at the mall," he said and cringed.

"And…?!"

"And they were buying things for…for a-a small child. My informant said that he overheard them talking about a first birthday party for a girl named Kathleen."

The slickly man was stunned into silence for a moment, "Whose child is it?" he demanded.

"It appears to be Shalimar Fox's child with Brennan Mulwray, Sir."

"No!" the ill man shouted, weakly hitting his fist into his bed, sending a nurse and doctor scurrying into the room, "Get out!" he yelled at them.

Once they were alone again, Cornwell apologized, "I'm sorry, Sir, but I believe this information to be accurate. However, I think this is good news for you, Sir." The sick man glared at Cornwell until he broke under the power of the fierce look, "We-well I mean...you know…for your…"

"I know you imbecile!" he took a moment to get his hair-trigger temper under control, "Did you manage to get any pictures of Mutant X?"

"We were only able to get two before the feral nearly caught our man."

"Give them to me and leave."

Cornwell handed over the two pictures and scuttled from the room.

The man looked at the pictures before him and ground his teeth. The first one was of the four members, sitting in a food court, enjoying a cup of coffee. Shalimar and Mulwray had their backs to the photographer but the psyonic and the molecular were smiling and holding hands. He took a closer look and saw matching wedding bands on their left hands and laughed, "So you finally got the courage to ask her out, eh Kilmartin?"

He scoffed before flipping to the second photo and his breath caught in his throat. It was a photo taken of the other side of the table. Mulwray was laughing about something and Shalimar was gazing at him lovingly. He felt his rage begin to burn even hotter than before. He took a closer look at Shalimar and traced her smile on the photo; she looked spectacular. Her hair was slightly longer than it had been the last time he saw her, but her face was glowing with happiness. He tore Mulwray out of the picture before pausing and putting the two pieces of the photo back together; noticing their matching wedding rings. He used most of his remaining strength to set Mulwray's half of the photo on fire with his left hand before staring at Shalimar for a while, "We will be together as soon as I'm well again, Shalimar. No one will be able to keep us apart after that."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

~*~ Later that night in the rec room~*~

Shalimar practically collapsed into her husband's lap, "She's down…finally!" She looked around the room, "Thanks for cleaning up everyone."

"Do you want some coffee, Shal?"

"I'd love a cup, thanks Em!"

The psyonic returned to the room balancing a tray of mugs, coffee, cream and sugar. Jesse grabbed the tray and placed it on the coffee table and everyone fixed themselves a cup.

"Mmm! Em, you make phenomenal coffee!"

"Thanks," she smiled.

"Where's Adam?" she asked.

"He's in the lab," Jesse said.

"I'm going to bring him a cup of coffee; we all know how he gets if he doesn't have his caffeine fix."

~*~In the lab~*~

'_This can't be right'_ Adam thought to himself as he studied the genetic scan, _'There's just no way this is possible…'_

Shalimar entered the lab and felt the tension emitting from Adam; that combined with his uptight stance made her frown slightly. She moved towards him while trying to sneak a peek at what had him so worried, "Here's some coffee, Adam."

The older man jumped when she spoke and quickly minimized all the computer files he had been working on, "Uh, thanks Shalimar," he said, clearing his throat.

Her smile faltered for a moment, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Shalimar," his tone didn't leave any room to question him further.

"Okay, well we're all having coffee in the rec room and we were thinking about putting on a movie. Do you want to come and join us?"

"Not tonight."

She looked at him and for the first time in a few days noticed the dark circles under his bloodshot eyes; the frown lines that seemed much more predominant than before. She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck while standing on her toes and kissing his cheek, "I'm here if you want to talk."

With that she turned and left the room even though every fiber of her being was screaming in protest. Something was wrong; seriously wrong and Adam wasn't sharing any details with her or the team. This wasn't the first time this had occurred but it felt different today; it felt troublesome and foreboding. It left her wanting to round up her family and prepare for an attack that she felt she may be unable to defend them from.

_**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please don't forget to R&R!!**_

_**~*~FiestyFeral~*~**_


	4. Announcement, Troublesome News & Snacks

**This chapter is dedicated to LunarFairyPrincess1989 for adding this story to her favourite story list!! It made my day!!! Thanks!! ******

**Chapter 4—An Announcement, Troublesome News & Secret Snacks**

Everyone sat around the breakfast table, sans Adam, and enjoyed the large variety of food to eat; Kat, as usual, was wearing a fair amount of her food.

Emma shoveled more scrambled eggs onto her plate and drowned them in ketchup, "Jeez, Em, save some for the rest of us," Brennan said as he wrinkled his nose.

"Sorry, but they're _so delicious!!!_"

"Dishes," Kat said, solemnly nodding her head in agreement, even though she didn't have any eggs on her plate yet.

"Slow down, Babe, you're going to choke," Jesse advised.

"No, I'm not!" she uncharacteristically yelled around a mouthful of eggs.

Shalimar sat back in her chair, absently holding Kat's cup of juice while everyone looked at the red haired beauty.

"Chill out, Emma," Brennan laughed uneasily; trying to diffuse the situation until she gave him a deadly look and he snapped his mouth shut.

"Hey, Em?"

She swallowed a mouthful of eggs, "What?"

"Come with me for a sec."

"Whatever you have to say, you can say it here."

"It'll just take a second," she said as she looked pointedly towards the hallway.

"Just say it, Shalimar!"

"Okay. When was the last time you had your period?" the feral bluntly inquired.

Emma froze with her fork halfway to her mouth and Shalimar was pretty sure Jesse wasn't breathing anymore, "I'm not pregnant! Jeez! A girl gets an odd craving and suddenly everyone thinks she's pregnant! No one would be batting an eyelash if it was Jesse or Brennan! Besides, it's only been…" she counted in her head, "Five weeks, but I've always had an irregular cycle and we've been careful. Besides, I would know if I was pregnant."

"Emma, I didn't realize I was pregnant until I was a week and a half along and I'm a feral. We know these things a _lot_ sooner than everyone else…almost instantly."

"This is ridiculous!" She looked over at her ashen husband, "Deep breathing, Jess," she reminded him.

"Well, there's one way to know for sure…" Shalimar hinted.

Emma dropped her fork in exasperation, "Fine! I'll get Adam to run a pregnancy test!" Her chair screeched on the tiled floor as she hastily stood up and left the room.

Jesse sat there for a moment looking completely and utterly shocked, "Jess? You should probably go with Emma," Brennan said, trying to contain his laughter.

"What?"

"Go with Emma!" Brennan commanded.

"What? Oh yeah! I'm going!" He called over his shoulder as he dashed from the kitchen.

"Pass me the eggs, please," Shalimar requested nonchalantly as Brennan burst out laughing.

Shalimar joined in as she shook her head. Brennan's hysterical laughter made her giggle even harder and before they knew it, Brennan had his head in his hands; wiping away the tears as Shalimar held her stomach and Kat laughed at her parents' silly behaviour.

~*~The Lab~*~

"Adam!" Emma nearly shouted as she marched into the room defiantly with Jesse following on her heels.

"Huh?" he minimized what he was working on and focused on the young husband and wife in front of him; noticing for the first time the looks on their faces, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong!" Emma snapped before sensing everyone else feeling anger. She had unwittingly projected her anger onto them. Taking a calming breath and starting much calmer she said, "I need you to run a test for me."

Adam's entire expression became full of concern as his eyes intensely searched the psyonic for any signs of what could be wrong, "What kind of test, Emma? Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine!" she growled.

"Okay, then what…?"

"We need you to run a pregnancy test," Jesse said although his voice sounded like a mix of excitement and apprehension.

"Oh," The older man looked at the pair in front of him and nodded thoughtfully, "I didn't realize you two were trying for a baby."

"We weren't…but still…"

"Okay, Emma, take a seat on the chair and we'll have the results of the scan in a minute."

Emma complied with the request and as the yellow light washed over her body she silently seethed; she wasn't mad at anyone other than herself. She should have asked Adam to run a test as soon as she was late for her period. She felt like the world's biggest idiot.

The scan ended and Adam turned to the nearest computer monitor and read the results while Jesse held Emma's hand and watched as her expression changed from angry to thoughtful.

Adam turned to his surrogate children and grinned at them, "Congratulations! You're four weeks pregnant, Emma!"

Emma swallowed and tried to decipher the emotions she was feeling before feeling the explosion of exquisite bliss radiating from him; she looked at Jesse's face and knew that everything was right in her world; he had a big, goofy grin on his face and a dreamy expression in his eyes.

"Em," he said, his voice much huskier than it had been a minute ago, "We're going to have a baby. I'm going to be a dad!"

"I can't believe it," she whispered as a tear slid from her eye and her free hand caressed her toned stomach. She grabbed her husband and gave him a bone crushing hug before kissing him passionately.

Once the kiss had been broken Adam cleared his throat, "I hate to break this up, but there are a few things you need to know. Emma, as of right now, you're no longer in active duty; you can help the team from Sanctuary. You're going to need weekly check ups to ensure that both you and the baby are healthy and that there aren't any complications from the merging of your DNA and Jesse's DNA since two different classes of mutations are present. I'm going to have you start a new vitamin regiment and I need you to take care of yourself even more than you were before, okay?"

"Absolutely," Emma agreed.

"For sure," echoed her husband.

Adam smiled at the shocked and elated couple for a moment; remembering this image for the darker times that were just beyond the horizon. He made sure they weren't watching him before quickly transferring the files he has previously been working on to his room before exiting all relevant programs and silently vanishing from the room.

~*~Kitchen~*~

Jesse and Emma walked back into the kitchen. One look at them and Brennan whooped in excitement while rushing to shake Jess's hand. Shalimar hugged her friend and whispered in her ear, "Congratulations, Em. I know you and Jesse are going to be amazing parents!"

"Thanks," she whispered back before holding Shalimar at arm's length, "How did you know, Shal?"

Shalimar smirked, "I had a hunch and it paid off, that's all."

"You're lying," Emma observed.

"I'll forgive you for reading me without my permission this time, Em."

"Spill the beans!"

"There were subtle changes that I started noticing a couple weeks ago. At first it was nothing big: not as much energy, craving certain foods; things like that. Then you started having a harder time controlling your emotions and keeping your walls up in situations that would normally not have ruffled even one of your pretty little feathers. "

"Uh huh…"

"Then you started to look slightly…off. I don't know how to explain it. It's like something shifted and was slightly off but I couldn't put my finger on it until I was sitting beside you earlier. You…smelled differently."

"She smells like she always does," Jesse defended.

"That's not what I mean, Jess. Animals have an exceedingly heightened sense of smell; they can tell when someone else has been in their territory, if food is good to eat, when a female is in heat and even when a female is pregnant." She saw their faces and raised her hands in defense, "All I'm saying is that you smell differently today than you did every other day since I met you all those years ago. I only put two and two together. It doesn't take a rocket scientist."

~*~Adam's Room~*~

He reread the screen for the millionth time and growled in frustration, massaging his temples; trying to get rid of the migraine that had been plaguing him for the past few days.

_There has to be something here that I'm just not seeing! There has to be a way to figure this out! If only there was another geneticist I could trust with this information so I could get a second opinion!  
_

His fist slammed down on his desk in sheer aggravation. He rubbed his hand thoughtfully and sighed before reading the screen one more time; praying that an answer would suddenly pop into his mind.

Kathleen's mutations were growing so rapidly that he feared they were going to spin out of control. If that happened and her feral side was dominant at the time she would seclude herself from the others and become extremely violent if approached. She would be completely feral in every sense of the word and unable to reason with; resulting in her hurting or killing herself or the others. If her elemental side was dominant then she wouldn't be able to stop the discharge of energy coming from her body until it killed her.

Either way, his granddaughter was in grave danger and he had no idea how it fix it. The regular 'tune ups' that he preformed on the adults seemed to be only mildly effective, but they were losing their effectiveness with each passing check up.

Adam rose to his feet; exhausted from not sleeping and began his nightly trek to the lab to try and create a way to save the young child's life.

~*~Kathleen's Room~*~

She woke from her sleep and panicked when she didn't recognize where she was until she remembered. She let her eyes glow in the dark as she began to distinguish the new objects in her big girl room. She rose from the bed and exited her room, using the door that connected with the hallway and not the one that would take her to her parent's room.

Once in the hallway she heard the distant, muted sounds of computers blipping and keyboards clacking so she followed the noises to find her grandfather's lab. She stealthily walked into the room and silently jumped from the floor to the med bed; watching the older man work.

"Grandpa, what you doing?"

Adam jumped and spun around, "Kathleen? What are you doing awake?"

"Not sleepy! What you doing?" she asked again.

"I'm doing grown up work, honey."

"Oh." She sat there for a moment, thinking. "Me help?"

Adam began to shake his head no, but decided to use the child's willingness to help in his favour, "Okay."

"How, Grandpa?" she eagerly asked.

"I need to run a scan of you."

"Again?"

"Yes, again."

She frowned, "No! Me no like 'cans!"

"I'll make a deal with you. If I can run a scan of you then I'll let you do a scan of me, okay?"

The child's eyes grew to the size of saucers, "Yes!!"

"Good girl. Lay still for Grandpa."

Kathleen complied and Adam preformed the scan, saving the results before lifting her and lying down on the med bed. Kat jumped from the chair and onto the floor with the amazing grace that never failed to amaze and terrify him at the same time. "When you're ready to start the scan all you have to do is say 'start scan'."

Kathleen nodded solemnly before standing up straight, "Start 'can!" she commanded.

Adam pressed a button on the remote control in his hand while maintaining a meticulously straight face as the scan began. When it finished he scooped up his granddaughter and carried her over to the computer to view his scan, "Hmm…what do we have here?"

The little girl frowned at the image on the screen, "Don't know…" she sighed with her hands in the air.

Adam had to contain his laughter so he pointed to the screen, "This is my heart."

"Heart," she repeated.

"These are my lungs."

"Lungs," she nodded.

"These are my intestines."

"'Testins."

"And this here is my stomach."

"Tummy?"

"Yes, that's my tummy," he chuckled as his stomach growled.

"Tummy hungry!" Kathleen giggled as she poked him in the stomach.

"Yes, it is," he agreed. "Do you want me to make you our secret snack?"

The petite feral leaned in close, "Secret snack!" she whispered, excitingly licking her lips, "Yes, please!"

"Okay," Adam whispered back, "We have to be really quiet on our way to the kitchen! Quieter than a mouse!"

"Grandpa?"

"Yes, honey?"

She leaned even closer and in a very soft voice informed him, "Mouses aren't quiet. I hear them and Mama can too."

"That's because you have special hearing, Kathleen. But a mouse is a lot quieter than an elephant, right?"

She giggled at the absurd comparison, "Yes! 'Course, Grandpa!"

"Come here and give me a kiss. I need a kiss," he told her as he picked her up and kissed her.

Kat rained wet kisses all over his face before giving him a big hug, "Better?"

"Much better! Now let's be very, very quiet," he whispered as they left the lab, with Adam over exaggerating his tip toeing and Kat clapping two hands over her mouth to stifle her laughter.

Once they were in the kitchen, Adam put Kat down and began to retrieve the items he was going to need. He lifted Kathleen up and sat her on the large island with the food items, "You need to pass me the crackers, okay?"

"'Kay," she agreed as she began to hand her grandfather crackers while he spread peanut butter on them. After they had a bunch of crackers covered in peanut butter Adam put them on a plate and gave Kat a bottle of maple syrup, "You get to do the fun part!"

"Whoa!" she exclaimed as she poured syrup all over their 'secret snack'.

"That's good, Kat!" he praised as he took the syrup bottle away from to child. He gave one syrup drenched cracker to Kat and took one for himself as they began to munch on their snack.

When they were on their third crackers Kat suddenly stilled and cocked her head to the side, "What is it?" Adam inquired.

"Mama!" she gasped as she shoved her cracker into her mouth.

Moments later the older feral sauntered into the room, looking like she had just woken up, "Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

Kat shot Adam a panicked look, "Tell Mama?"

"Sure," he smiled.

"Secret snack, Mama!" she announced as she proudly offered mother a cracker while syrup slowly rolled down her chubby arm.

Shalimar took the cracker and eyed it carefully before taking a bite and chewing slowly; eventually making a face, "Ugh! Adam! What are you feeding my daughter?"

"Kat caught me eating these one night when she couldn't sleep and it's been our secret snack ever since."

"Why would you put these things together? It's an abomination!"

"Hey! I used to make these all the time while I was at school since I couldn't cook much back then. Besides, peanut butter has a lot of nutritional benefits!"

Shalimar gave her half eaten cracker a distasteful look, "Do you want the rest of this, baby?" Kathleen snatched the cracker from her mother and shoved it into her mouth without a word, munching happily, "She is definitely Brennan's child."

"Shalimar," Adam began in a grave voice, "I need you to promise me something."

Shalimar's face instantly became full of concern, "What it is?"

Adam looked at Kathleen for a moment before turning back to Shalimar, whose face had drained of all colour, and he changed his mind, "You have to promise me you won't tell anyone about the secret snack. You have to swear to keep it a secret, no matter what!"

"Secret, Mama! No telling!" Kathleen clarified around her last cracker.

She gave a mock salute before placing her hand over her heart, "I promise I will never tell anyone about your secret snack," she vowed.

The young feral nodded seriously before Adam picked her up and held her at arms length, "I'll get her cleaned up and put her back to bed."

"I would expect nothing less," Shalimar chuckled before kissing her daughter on the forehead and licking the syrup from her lips, "Sweet dreams, my love"

"Night night, Mama!" she waved a tiny hand, covered in cracker crumbs, syrup and peanut butter.

Adam bathed Kathleen before dressing her in a clean set of pajamas. He placed her in her bed and tucked her in, giving her a kiss, "Goodnight, honey."

"Grandpa?" came a small voice in the nearly dark room.

"Yes?"

"Stay," she commanded, "…Please?"

"Okay, move over," he said as he lay down in the bed with his granddaughter. A few minutes later her breathing steadied and he knew she was asleep. He quietly got out of the bed and closed her door; returning once again to his lab.

_**Please R&R!! I've only gotten one review as of last chapter and I think that I may not continue to write because I write stories for your reviews…**_

_**~*~FiestyFeral~*~**_


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